Demonstrators wave Syrian opposition flags during a protest against Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad at the courtyard of Fatih mosque in Istanbul yesterday.
MOSCOW: Syria’s most powerful ally Russia said yesterday that the Damascus regime had agreed “in principle” to attend an international peace conference on the crisis that world powers hope will take place in Geneva in June.
But Moscow also criticised Syria’s various opposition groups for presenting tough demands that in some cases included the exclusion of President Bashar Al Assad’s representatives from the negotiations.
Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Russia had received the Damascus government’s agreement to take part in the Geneva conference during a visit to Moscow by Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad.
“We note with satisfaction that we have received an agreement in principle from Damascus to attend the international conference in the interest of the Syrians themselves finding a political path to resolve the conflict,” Lukashevich told reporters.
Russia is seen as the nation exercising the strongest influence over the Syrian regime thanks to years of military and other cooperation that stretches back to Soviet times. Moscow has in recent weeks also been keen to show its diplomatic influence in the region by ensuring that Assad’s representatives attended a conference agreed this month by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry.
Some European media have reported that the meeting has been already tentatively scheduled for June 10, with the focus on ending 26 months of bloodshed that a Syrian observer group says has claimed more than 90,000 lives. But Lukashevich said reports of a specific date for the conference “cannot be taken seriously” because the ranks of Assad’s foes remained so split.
“Demands to immediately name a specific date for the conference without having clarity about who — and with what authority — will speak in the name of the opposition, cannot be taken seriously,” Lukashevich said. Syria’s main opposition group entered a second day of talks in Istanbul yesterday aimed at finding a joint approach to what has already been dubbed as the “Geneva 2” conference. AFP
